Go to the airport and buy some 100LL (low lead) it has six times the lead of the most leaded car gas ever produced. Fouls spark plugs just for fun. But it sure gives an engine a wonderful boost of power and smells Lovely
That's what Matilda has run on for 22 years, ever since Sunoco 260 and Exxon Golden disappeared. Pennsylvania makes an exception for "Antiques and Classics" if the original engine design called for leaded. IIRC, originally AVGAS was 105 octane LL. I wonder why the drop? They put ethyl bromide in gas when lead was first introduced, which prevented most of the buildup on plugs etc. I suppose it has been dropped for EPA reasons, so now you get the plug fouling. Another good reason for doing a mag check before heading out into the Wild Blue.
The same line chief who has been gassing up our Bonanza, and its predecessor, for 11 years sticks by the rules, rigidly. He won't pump AVGAS into Matilda's tank (against the law, as it is a different fuel tax), only into the 5-gallon cans I bring ("after that you can do what you like with it. Run your tractor with it for all I care" [I did, once]).
And they have to be metal cans so that he can ground them with the bonding clip before bringing the fuel nozzle over, just as he does the planes.
Rick; do you subscribe to
Flying magazine? There's a great "I learned about flying from that" account in the latest issue.